A convenient place for me to unload scoops of metaphorical brain matter.
The title refers to a book of poetry by Charles Bukowski.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Concert review: The Black Angels, Fillmore Jive

My first post for Draw Us Lines! Blake & Jim have asked me to do some live show reviews for their burgeoning blog, and I have happily obliged. Check out my review on their site, and see my additional thoughts below. I'll continue to add here some stray observations and more personal anecdotes that don't quite fit over there, and I'll let you know when something new appears there, too.

I grabbed the guitarist's set list from the front of the stage after the show. That's what you see in the pic at the bottom of the DUL review.

Diesel was even worse than I implied in my review. Granted, they are clean, smoke-free (except for the massively cheesy smoke machine blowing down from above the stage), and well-lit, but it becomes clearer every time that they just don't give a shit about the live music aspect of their business, which makes me wonder why they even bother. The stage is very nice, but it's too tall for the best viewing location, which is the floor in front. The upstairs "VIP lounge" area was roped off for this concert, but I could see employees scrubbing the windows, eating their dinners, and setting up liquor table service while the show was going on. Come on! And towards the end, there were actually club patrons up there already enjoying their Ciroc or Patron or whatever they drink, clearly disinterested in the rock music going on down below. The show ended abruptly in time so they could take down the stage and make sure all the clubbers could get in shortly thereafter. Look, I understand, Diesel: this is where you make your money. Dancing & boozing is your bread & butter. Fine. But just do that if it's really what you want to do. Don't aggravate us genuine concertgoers who love the bands you get and want to see a good show because you happen to not really care about that aspect of your business and just see it as a way to make a few bucks on the side. It's disrespectful to the band and the fans. Don't pretend to be something you're not, you know? You're a club through and through, so stick to that.

Fillmore Jive's drummer walked onstage with a cup of hot coffee. First time I'd seen that. Usually it's a bottle of water, a bottle of beer, or a red solo cup.

Merch tables: FJ were selling CDs for $3 and autographs for $20, got a kick out of that. The Black Angels were selling vinyl of all 3 albums for $20 each, CDs for $10 and t-shirts for $15. I really liked the shirt with their Nico logo on it, but I had already bought the new album on vinyl and thought I was spending enough at that show already . . . oh well, next time, I guess.

The lead guitarist in The Black Angels was playing a cool-looking 6-string Rickenbacker that I had never seen, and it had 2 stickers on it. Looking closely, I saw they were both for The Brian Jonestown Massacre. Interesting.